1. Field
Embodiments relate to a robot to derive a maximum dynamic performance of a humanoid robot, and a method of controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a mechanical device which performs motions similar to human motions using an electrical or magnetic mechanism is called a robot. The word ‘Robot’ is derived from the Slavak word ‘robota’ (slave machine). Most early robots served as manipulators used for automated or unmanned tasks of manufacturing plants or industrial robots, such as transportation robots.
Recently, research into a walking robot made through imitation of the mechanics and operations of animals walking straight with two legs, such as human beings or monkeys, has been actively conducted, such that the walking robot can be put to practical use. The bipedal straight walking of the robot is more unstable than a crawler walking type or a 4-legged or 6-legged walking type, and is more difficult than the crawler walking type or the 4-legged or 6-legged walking type in terms of posture- or walking- control. Therefore, the robot can smoothly walk on uneven ground or an uneven surface having an obstacle in a walking path, or can easily cope with a discontinuous walking mode based on the presence of stairs or ladders, such that the robot can smoothly move on the walking path.
Generally, a representative walking robot made in imitation of the bionic mechanism and operations of a human being is called a humanoid robot. The humanoid robot can support human lives, residential living services, and human activity in other daily lives.
The purposes of researching and developing the humanoid robot can be classified into two purposes, i.e., the implementation of human science and the support of human activity.
A detailed description of the implementation of human science is as follows. Such a robot capable of moving its legs, arms, and hands like a human being has been manufactured, and a method of controlling the robot has been developed, such that the walking motion of the human being can be simulated by the robot and the control method thereof. By the simulation process, the mechanism of the walking motion and natural operations of the human being can be technically explained. These research results can largely contribute to human engineering, rehabilitation engineering, or sports science, and other engineering fields related to human mechanics.
A detailed description of such support of human activity is as follows. Support of human activity aims to develop a robot that supports various human activities, e.g., residential living services and other human activities in the course of daily life. Such a robot must learn various aspects of human living environments from the human being, and must also learn an adaptation method for either persons having different personalities or environments having different characteristics, so that it is necessary for the robot to be further developed. In this case, if the robot is manufactured to have a humanoid appearance, the human can freely and easily talk to the humanoid robot with a feeling of intimacy.
In the meantime, in order to allow the humanoid robot to interact with humans, it is necessary to carry out dynamic motion (e.g., a motion of kicking or throwing a ball). However, it is difficult for the humanoid robot to perform a rapid and dynamic motion similar to a human motion. The rapid and dynamic motion, e.g., a throw motion and a kick motion, is achieved through repeated practice and learning over a long period of time. In more detail, a person cannot effectively handle the degree of freedom composed of many joints, and all joints are effectively and harmonically controlled, so that the optimization of a specific physical range can be achieved. From the viewpoint of control, it can be seen that a slow motion initially carried out by a feedback action of a sensor is being evolved to a pre-optimized motion formed through learning. The motion optimization achieved by the specific objective function may be considered to be a process of achieving the learning over a long period of time within a short period of time. Optimizing the human motion in response to individual objects is being supported by considerable research into bionics. Therefore, in order to allow the robot to perform dynamic motion, it is necessary for the robot to receive an optimum motion command in response to dynamics and mechanics of the robot.